Mondello Speaks

The man everyone is waiting on, Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello, just entered the convention hall and was inundated by reporters. But he insistedÂ he remains undecided in the balloting for the governor’s race this morning.

“I’ve been around a long time, 23 years,” Mondello said. “The only one who can rush me is my wife.”

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, a Mondello ally, spotted the chairman first and led the press over to speak with him. It has been speculated that Mondello will utlimately make a decision based on what Bruno wants.

Mondello said it’s possible he’ll sit out the first round of voting to see who the other chairs are supporting. It’s also possible he’ll split his county, which has the largest share of the weighted state committee vote – 10.45 percent. He insisted that one thing he won’t do is abstain from voting all together, something that had been widely sepculated.

“Not unless God takes me before the end of the convention,” Mondello said.Â Â

Even when pushed, Mondello refused to reveal his cards. He suggested that some county chairs had already flipped from one side to the other, although he didn’t specify who had benefited from that – Bill Weld or John Faso.Â Susan Del Percio, Faso’s campaign spokeswoman, said she wasn’t aware of any flipping.Â

Mondello, like Bruno, said he would have preferred the so-called fusion ticket between Weld and Faso (or Faso and Weld), but deemed the chances of that “remote.”